Diseased tissue, such as a cancerous tumor, is commonly diagnosed by taking a biopsy of the tissue for pathology. The biopsy procedure, however, is invasive and involves the removal of a portion of the tissue for analysis. Clearly, it is much more desirable to have a non-invasive method for such diagnosis.
One approach to the treatment of diseased tissue, particularly tumors, is surgical removal. Surgical removal, however, is invasive and can be quite complex and time consuming. Additionally, surgical treatment requires the selective treatment of each individual diseased tissue. Surgical treatment can also result in serious complications, such as from anesthesia. Clearly, a more comprehensive and non-invasive treatment of similar or better efficacy than surgical removal is desirable.
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) has been demonstrated to be a safe modality to treat diseased tissue noninvasively. For example, HIFU has been used to treat prostrate cancer, kidney cancer, and testicular cancer. An exemplary system used to administer HIFU is the Sonablate® 500 (SB500) system available from Focus Surgery, located at 3940 Pendleton Way, Indianapolis, Ind. 46226.
Further exemplary embodiments of systems used to administer HIFU are disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. US2007/0010805, filed Jul. 8, 2006, titled “Method and Apparatus for Treatment of Tissue;” U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0240127, filed Mar. 2, 2005, titled “Ultrasound Phased Arrays;” U.S. Provisional Patent Application Publication No. US2008/0091123, filed May 6, 2004, titled “Treatment of Spatially Oriented Disease with a Single Therapy, Imaging, and Doppler Ultrasound Transducer;” PCT Patent Application Serial No. US2005/015648, filed May 5, 2005, designating the US, titled “Method and Apparatus for the Selective Treatment of Tissue;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,582; U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,901; U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,560; U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,417; U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,090; U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,271; U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,370; U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,381; U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,512; U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,546; U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,828; U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,121; U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,613; U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,653; U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,365; U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,855; U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,470; U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,102; U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,832; U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,319; U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,680; U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,401; U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,935; U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,484; U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,000; U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,197; U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,006; U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,069, U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,350, U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,126; U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,497, U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,526; U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,479; U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,837; U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,179; U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,692; U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,031; U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,066; U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,640; U.S. Abandoned patent application Ser. No. 07/840,502 filed Feb. 21, 1992; Australian Patent No. 5,732,801; Canadian Patent No. 1,332,441; and Canadian Patent No. 2,250,081 (collectively the “HIFU Patents”), the disclosures of all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.